Ihor S. Kozubenko

Ihor Serhiyovych Kozubenko was born on May 25, 1989, in Nizhyn, Chernihiv Oblast. He studied at Nizhyn Secondary School No. 3 and Nizhyn Aviation Lyceum at Secondary School No. 15. He graduated from the National Aviation University with a degree in "Aviation Traffic Engineer." He interned at Odesa International Airport. In 2012, he took the military oath, received the rank of junior lieutenant, and held the position of assistant to the flight manager at Nizhyn Aviation Base. He has been serving in the State Emergency Service of Ukraine since 2014. He held the position of senior assistant to the flight manager of the special aviation squad of the operational rescue service of civil protection of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. Captain of the civil protection service Ihor Kozubenko began his combat duty on February 23, 2022, for search and rescue support in the unified system of conducting aviation operations for search, rescue, and firefighting at the "Nizhyn" airfield. On the night of February 24, 2022, a massive missile attack on the infrastructure of Nizhyn began from the Russian Federation. A direct hit by a Kalibr cruise missile occurred around 5:30 AM. The enemy struck the command and dispatch point twice. Ihor Kozubenko could only order to leave the burning room... For personal courage and selfless actions displayed in defense of the state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and loyalty to the military oath, Ihor Serhiyovych Kozubenko was posthumously awarded the Order of "For Courage" III degree.